Reactionary Statement

I would like to issue a statement regarding today’s UN Security Council meeting.  Allow me to amplify our position regarding the recent events in Turkey, and react to the positions of our fellow Security Council members. First, I want to reiterate our sympathy towards the Turkish people and reaffirm our strengthening political and economic ties with Turkey. In the wake of the attacks on the Incirlik base, which housed US nuclear weapons, allegations have arisen that Russia’s own nuclear armaments are insufficiently protected from outside threats.  We reiterate that such “loose fissile materials” are non-existent, and we maintain safe and reliable defenses.  According to the terms of multiple arms limitation treaties, including the NEWSTART treaty, which President Obama and I recently signed, we have limited our nuclear stockpile, and increased protection on existing weapons. As victims of terrorist attacks at the hands of Chechen Islamic extremists, Russia knows that it is imperative for the community of nations to eradicate this global threat. We strongly support the position of Chinese President Hu Jintao who has stressed the insidious and spreading nature of fundamentalist Islam terrorism, and the importance of confronting it.  Radical Islam has used deadly force the world over, in Moscow, Ankara, New York, and Western China.  We implore all permanent members of the Security Council to continue to encourage all signatories to honor the commitments made under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.  It is the duty of all nations, whether they possess nuclear weapons or not, to join this pact which will encourage a nuclear free zone in the Middle East.  Today, UN members unanimously reaffirmed their support of the Treaty to prevent nuclear proliferation to terrorists, so that the next attack doesn’t dwarf the ruinous attacks perpetrated on the Incirlik base. Despite this horrendous tragedy, the search for peace in the Middle East must continue, and multilateral action must be taken against the Islamic fundamentalist plague.